So, I was taking a look at the Regent class in the store when I noticed a teensy problem with her warp nacelles.

The warp nacelles are too low. They are not visible from the front of the ship. Big deal, right? Well, it breaks canon in one little way. The intention is that the Bussard Ramscoops (otherwise known as the red tips on most nacelles) are visible from the front so that they can collect hydrogen particles and help refuel the ship.

Darned if I can't find a good source on that to cite, but my internet-fu is a bit dragged down by exhaustion/insomnia.

The Sovereign always towed the line on this one pretty close, but the ramscoops are clearly visible from the front. (and all her other variants follow the rule as well)

I'm sure there are other ships in the game that probably break this rule, but this is the Enterprise and its spirtual successor.

Raise those nacelles.

(yes, I know changing the pylons out probably fixes this, but the stock Regent should be right)

I like the forward delta of the pylons, it's a nice touch, the whole shape makes for a low and mean look that is appealing, the nacelles are slightly above the primary hull but perspective view would make that less obvious.
As for the function of the Bussard Ramscoops, it has to be remembered that the scoops contain force field generators that create a massive funnel shape (many times the size of the ship) to channel elemental hydrogen to the collectors, so the collectors themselves don't actually have to be in the physical path of these molecules, that is established in canon, at least according to any "technical manuals" published.

There are a few things I dislike about the Regent and most of them stem from the split-hull.

I dislike the split-hull. It makes no sense. And just creates an abnormally large negative space in the over-long hull.

The split-hull looks ugly from the side-view too. We see that it has altered the profile of the ship far from the Sovereign's aerodynamic curves into a retro "flat" curves. making the top-side of the hull, from the side-view, look fat.

The inside walls of this negative space are dead straight too. Like a cheap attempt to lower polygon count.

Where the Sovereign's hull beautifully tapers up to the deflector the Regent has dead flat lines.

This is actually what kills it for me. These straight lines. One thing you will notice about the Sovereign is there is hardly a straight line or flat surface in sight. the Regent has very different styling which bizarely looks more retro, than the usual 2409 refit method of styling.

And from the front we see the extremely undersized deflector is sitting in a boring triangle shape.

You will notice that this weird decision to try and shoe-horn a split-hull into a Sovereign has meant that these ship parts will look RIDICULOUS when combined with any of the other Assault Cruiser parts.

What a waste of a refit. they managed to botch up what should have been a no-brainer. All because the Akira is a "fan favourite". Lets make every ship take cues from the Akira! Lets make early Enterprise look like upside down Akira. Lets make Sovereign have split hull too!!!!... NO.

So, I was taking a look at the Regent class in the store when I noticed a teensy problem with her warp nacelles.

The warp nacelles are too low. They are not visible from the front of the ship. Big deal, right? Well, it breaks canon in one little way. The intention is that the Bussard Ramscoops (otherwise known as the red tips on most nacelles) are visible from the front so that they can collect hydrogen particles and help refuel the ship.

Darned if I can't find a good source on that to cite, but my internet-fu is a bit dragged down by exhaustion/insomnia.

The Sovereign always towed the line on this one pretty close, but the ramscoops are clearly visible from the front. (and all her other variants follow the rule as well)

I'm sure there are other ships in the game that probably break this rule, but this is the Enterprise and its spirtual successor.

Raise those nacelles.

(yes, I know changing the pylons out probably fixes this, but the stock Regent should be right)

LOL I too checked this out since I fly a sovy, the sovy nacelles are to low for where it should be but when I checked the regent they are not. You can see the bussard collectors clearly.

But in this pic http://images-cdn.perfectworld.com/w...1344971829.jpg they don't look like the have been risen or lowered, I think it is got to do with the game eng, the sovy and excelsior have the same prob. Was hoping they fixed this as in the movies and films you can clearly see the bussard collectors either above the saucer or below it never hiding behind the saucer.

So, I was taking a look at the Regent class in the store when I noticed a teensy problem with her warp nacelles.

The warp nacelles are too low. They are not visible from the front of the ship. Big deal, right? Well, it breaks canon in one little way. The intention is that the Bussard Ramscoops (otherwise known as the red tips on most nacelles) are visible from the front so that they can collect hydrogen particles and help refuel the ship.

The Regents Nacelles are perfectly in position, raising them would KILL this ships nice general shape!!!
I beg the responsible model artist NOT to change ANYTHING on this ship at all!!!

The Bussard Collectors are perfectly visible from the Front LINKLINK, and even if they where not, there is no reason why they couldn't collect hydrogen around the saucer.
(Just think about a airfoil, where the air is flowing around.)
They are using something like a magnetic field or low energy field to collect hydrogen, so i don't see a reason why this couldn't be possible around the saucer.

And even if they couldn't work that way, i would forget canon in THIS case because that ship looks just gorgeous as it is, raising the Nacelles would make the ship look ugly, so please lets forget this and assume that technological advancement has solved that problem.

(To be honest, i always found the front view of ships with raised nacelles look stupid, maybe because it reminded me of Mickey Mouse, lol)

About the Split Hull, i think it should have been much less flatter and less canyon - like.

Personally i like the Straight lines, this ship looks like the stronger brother of the Sovereign. The only thing i would change if i had the chance is the neck.
The transition from Engineering hull to Saucer could have been a bit more smooth.
Like this, so the Engineering hull wouldn't look so slim from that angle.

But for me, all this are just minor nitpicks, this ship is a real beauty IMO.
One of very few beautyful ships ever made by cryptics designers and i would absolutely HATE if someone would butcher it's nice shapes and proportions just because of some obscure canon rules that don't help to make nice looking ships anyways.

Live long and prosper.

"...'With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured...the first thought forbidden...the first freedom denied--chains us all irrevocably.' ... The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. I fear that today--"
- Picard, quoting Judge Aaron Satie

I like the lines of the Regent, they are much smoother than the Sovereign, that bulge on the Sovereign's engineering hull just aft of the saucer's hanger bay always looked like something added after the fact that ruins the smooth transition from the primary to secondary hulls.
I also like the channeled hull, it gives eye appeal that would be missing were it simply a smooth surface, both with the channel corridor lined with windows as well as the mechanical equipment at its base, that gives detail without disrupting the sleek look of the hull in profile.
what I don't care for are the profile hull markings, the dark skin detail suddenly halting at a hard line just before the pylons, it makes it look like the ship let the yard before they had completed painting the hull. That said the ship is likely to be my tach toons next purchase.

Personally, I much prefer the Regent to any of the pre-existing Assault Cruisers and I have no real issues with the design when using all Regent parts. However, I'm not sure if it's just me who has noticed this, but when I start with the standard regent design and switch hulls to say, the Sovereign, the bussard collectors seem to sit slightly inside of the saucer. I'm not sure if this is intentional or whether it's an oversight, or even if it's only me who sees this.

Personally, I much prefer the Regent to any of the pre-existing Assault Cruisers and I have no real issues with the design when using all Regent parts. However, I'm not sure if it's just me who has noticed this, but when I start with the standard regent design and switch hulls to say, the Sovereign, the bussard collectors seem to sit slightly inside of the saucer. I'm not sure if this is intentional or whether it's an oversight, or even if it's only me who sees this.

Its not only you who sees it. and, yes, it is an oversight.

Because you will also notice most of the regant parts do notwork with the other assualt cruiser parts.

That is what you get when the designer tries to be clever and make akira style split hull...